Dakota O’Brien, an electrical apprentice from Moston, Manchester, has been announced as one of three winners of The Nation’s A* Apprentice Award 2024.
The award, launched by Markel Direct, the specialist tradespeople insurer, recognises those who have gone above and beyond in their role as a trades apprentice and aims to celebrate the outstanding work skilled trades apprentices all over the UK are doing within their workplace.
Dakota faced stiff competition from nominations across the UK, and was selected by the judging panel of Rob Rees, Divisional Director of Markel Direct, Louis Timpany, Founder and CEO of Fix Radio and James Wilson, Marketing Manager at Festool UK. Dakota was presented with a development package consisting of a Festool toolkit and accessories worth £4,000, a £750 voucher to spend on TuffStuff workwear and 24-hour tools cover for a year from Markel Direct.
Dakota was nominated for the award by his employer, James Burns of Croft Electrical. In his nomination, James said “I’m a small one-man band and I was told taking on an apprentice would be hard but with his [Dakota’s] eagerness and willing to learn it has been a massive help to the day to day running of the business.”
When asked about winning the prize, Dakota said: “I’m so happy to have my very own set of tools, James will be asking to borrow mine now! I’ve got insurance as well for a full year, so that can make me calm down a bit thinking whether my tools will get robbed. I still can’t believe I’ve won this award.”
The other winners of the award were Alfie Kinsella, a carpentry and joinery apprentice from Fallowfield, and Lily Moore, a painting and decorating apprentice from Bolton.
Rob Rees, Divisional Director of Markel Direct, commented: “It is no secret the important role that apprentices will play in the future of the trades and construction industry, and our three winners are a clear example of how attitude and hard graft can get you a long way. To be recognised for this award is a great achievement for Lily, Alfie and Dakota, and I want to congratulate them all on their success.”
To find out more about the apprentices’ achievements, and the judges’ comments, click here
